The embodiments described herein relate generally to catheter devices. More particularly, the embodiments described herein relate to catheter devices having a controlled size and/or catheter length.
Many medical procedures and/or surgical interventions include inserting an access device or fluid transfer device into a portion of the body. For example, catheters and/or other lumen-defining devices can be inserted into and/or through vascular structures to access portions of the body. In other instances, catheter and/or other lumen-defining devices can be used to transfer fluids from or to a patient.
In some instances, access devices and/or the like can have relatively long catheter lengths, which can present challenges during use. For example, in some instances, catheters and/or access devices used in interventional cardiology can have a length of 300 centimeters (cm) or more. In such instances, the use of such catheter and/or access devices can be cumbersome and/or difficult. In addition, the length of such catheter and/or access devices can result in undesirable bending, flexing, and/or kinking.
In other instances, fluid transfer devices and/or the like can use catheters and/or other lumen-defining devices to transfer fluids to or from a patient. In some instances, it may be desirable to maintain a relatively small and/or compact form factor of such fluid transfer devices to increase ease of use and/or decrease manufacturing and/or material costs. In some such instances, however, maintaining a relatively small and/or compact form factor can result in an undesirable reduction in an effective length and/or “reach” of a catheter included in the device.
By way of example, peripheral intravenous catheters or lines (PIVs) can be inserted into a patient and used for infusing fluids and medications. In general, PIVs are not designed for blood extraction with failure rates that typically increase with indwelling times (e.g., due to obstructions, build up, debris, clots, fibrin, etc.). In some instances, however, a fluid transfer device can be coupled to a proximal portion of a PIV (e.g., the portion outside of the body) and can be used to advance a catheter through the indwelling PIV to a position in which a distal end of the catheter extends beyond a distal end of the indwelling PIV. While such devices can position the distal end of the catheter in a portion of the vein receiving a flow of blood which may otherwise be obstructed or limited due to the presence of the indwelling PIV, some such devices can have a relatively long length in order to allow for the desired placement of the catheter beyond the PIV.
Thus, a need exists for catheter devices have a controllable size and/or catheter length.